Sweeney picks Oroho, Sarlo and Greenwald to lead tax group

At the start of the new state legislative session in January, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-3rd Dist., stated that he would be forming a team of legislative and tax policy experts to make recommendations on how best to address New Jersey's fiscal woes. On Tuesday, Sweeney announced the membership of the Economic and Fiscal Policy Working Group whose broad task includes exploring government efficiency, spending and taxation.

SARLO

The group will be headed by state Senators Steven Oroho, R-24th Dist., and Paul Sarlo, D-36th Dist., as well as Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald, D-6th Dist. Sarlo is chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, of which Oroho is a member.

The group will be exploring various areas, including how New Jersey funds local schools and other government services, ways to control high property taxes and how to stop residents from leaving the state for cheaper alternatives.

"It's something -- the total cost of government -- that we've been after for a long time," Oroho said on Wednesday. "When you look at the total cost of government in New Jersey it's one of the reasons why we've been uncompetitive ...You can't have all this overhead and expect to have a well run economy."

OROHO

Oroho and Sarlo previously worked together in 2016 on legislation which raised the gasoline tax by 23 cents to stabilize the state Transportation Trust Fund but also provided a handful of tax reforms, including the elimination of the estate tax, a reduction of the sales tax and retirement income tax and an increase of the earned income tax credit.

Oroho said the senate president told the group that "everything's on the table" as far as finding ways to reduce spending, cut taxes and account for the new federal tax reform package, which limits New Jersey resident's ability to deduct state and local taxes.

"We need to know how we can mitigate the negative impact of the federal tax plan and undertake a long-overdue examination of the adequacy, fairness and competitiveness of our tax structure," Sweeney said in a statement.

Other members of the State Legislature in the group include Assemblywoman and Budget Committee Chair Eliana Pintor Marin, D-29th Dist., state Sen. Troy Singleton, D-7th Dist., state Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego, R-8th Dist., and state Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-25th Dist.

Non-legislative members of the group include: Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors; Moody's Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi; Michael Lahr, director of Rutgers Economic Advisory Service; Rutgers' Bloustein Center for Local Government Research Director Raphael Caprio; Assistant Bloustein Center Director Marc Pfeiffer, a former deputy director of the state Division of Local Government Services; Senior Fellow Richard Keevey, a former state budget director; Henry Coleman, a professor and former economist with the U.S. General Accounting Office; Donald Moliver and Peter Reinhart, professors of real estate at Monmouth University; New Jersey Society of CPAs Executive Director Ralph Albert Thomas; Frank Chin and Ray Kljajic of American Public Infrastructure, Inc.; Kurtis Stroemel, president at HR&S Financial Services; Jerry Maginnis, former managing partner of the Philadelphia office of KPMG; former state Sen. Raymond Lesniak; and, former state Treasurer Feather O'Connor Houston.

According to Sweeney, most of the group's discussions will take place behind closed doors.

"Blowing up the system, and putting it back together in a way that makes it work better, requires total discussion amongst people that can speak freely, and not be concerned that they're going to be criticized until we get a product done," Sweeney reportedly said to NJ Spotlight.

David Danzis can also be contacted on Facebook: ddanzisNJH, on Twitter: @ddanzisNJH, or by phone: 973-383-1274.